An Interviening Strategy
by Rosethorn Li
Summary: Ryouga/Ranma/Akane; Ryouga is confused, Akane has a plan, and Ranma has a little help getting what he wants. Post Chapters 243 Carpe Deum and 244 Quit Carping! Prompt: Ryouga/Ranma /Akane : Waking up gay /bi --"It's the curse!
1. Part I

**An Intervening Strategy  
Part I  
By: Rosethorn Li**

[Ryouga/Ranma/Akane]_ Ryouga is confused, Akane has a plan, and Ranma has a little help getting what he wants._

_Post Chapters 243 (Carpe Deum) and 244 (Quit Carping!)_

_SpringKink Prompt:__ Ranma 1/2, Ryouga/Ranma(/Akane): Waking up gay(/bi)--"It's the curse! It must be part of the curse!"_

* * *

Ryouga had been gone longer periods of time than this, but somehow, coming back just then, it was as if everything had changed. It was so confusing.

Returning to Nerima was supposed to go like this: find Ranma (by asking someone to lead him to the Tendou Dojo or Furiken High), fight Ranma and either, a) defeat him in combat or b) be tricked by his cowardly, deceitful ways, and repeat. If he arrived in the area as a pig, Ryouga would first spend several days in the comfortable existence as P-chan and _then_ declare a battle.

Ranma and Akane-san should not be walking down the street _hand in hand_ and _laughing_ together like they were on some sort of d-d-**date**! Especially because Ranma-kun was now Ranma_-chan_ and wearing a skirt and blouse and looking _comfortable_.

'_He's swinging his hips,__'_ his dumbfounded mind noted while another muttered right after,_ '__What a great ass_.' But Ryouga was good at a thing called denial and barely noticed.

Anger relieved him of any sense of reason he may have had. Ranma and Akane-san were not a couple, no matter that they were 'engaged'; Ranma had plenty of fiancées that he was playing around with!. What had Ranma done to Akane-san? Because everything, every injustice in the world, was all Ranma's fault.

A hand clenched tightly on his umbrella's handle, he withdrew it from his backpack's straps and made ready to charge in, spouting death threats and destroying property.

Only to freeze, mid-strike, when Akane-san said his name.

Kicking the opposite wall in order to reverse his flip, Ryouga handed on a telephone pole, umbrella open and poised for balance. The wire in front of him was positioned like a tightrope, but he dropped down the ground instead, landing silently, and stowed his umbrella, for the moment. He peered around the pole, the sign exclaiming: 'This is a no stalking zone; The Concerned Citizens of Nerima' going unnoticed above his head.

'_They're talking about me! Oh, Akane-san, have you finally come to your senses?_' he wondered hopefully, tears at the corners of his eyes.

Maybe Akane-san was showing Ranma the joys of womanhood to convert him from his perverse ways into a pious life as a woman. It would suit his eternal rival, to live out his days as a housewife to one of the many men he had wronged instead of running wild and destroying other lives.

'_Ranma-chan in a apron, garter belt and black lace panties was asking him, "What would you like first: dinner, a bath, or…" Her breasts were right in front of him, so near they nearly brushing his chin. Seductive blue eyes gazed coyly up at him, and in a husky whisper, Ranma-chan finished, "me?"_'

Blood stained his upper lip, dribbling down from his nose. He wondered if he was getting a cold, and wiped the mess away with one of his many bandanas. The ruined fabric was pocketed as his ears once again perked up at the mention of his name.

"Ranma-kun, you haven't seen Ryouga-kun?" Akane asked, sounding concerned. "It's been nearly two months. Shouldn't he be back by now?"

Akane-san was worried about him! Light feelings burst in his chest, and he could hear bells chiming and angels singing and smell roses in the breeze. Oh happy day!

Like always, Ranma just had to ruin his moment of joy.

"Nah, he can take care of himself. Don't need tah worry 'bout him, Akane," Ranma replied in his rough way of speaking. Very unlady-like. How were people fooled enough to think he was a real girl? He was better as a guy.

"But, Ranma--" Akane was pouting, just a little, at the edge of irritation. She was one comment away from balling up her fists and refusing to listen.

"He's fine, aright?" Then Ranma glanced over his, er, her shoulder and _looked him right in the eye_, sending a shock wave through the lost boy's body and freezing his muscles. Ryouga couldn't move under that burning gaze. "In fact, I'm thinkin' he's pretty close by."

"What? Where?" Akane-san glanced around futilely, trying to sense the surrounding ki but only coming up with civilians in the surrounding homes and Ranma's (admittedly) vast reserves.

Ranma still had his eyes locked with Ryouga when he said, "Well, he should be around here somewhere," and finally, after what seemed like years and maybe a few lifetimes, looked away.

Ryouga spun around and pressing his back up against the cold metal pole, heaving to catch the breath he had somehow lost under that stare. 'i_W-what was that?_/i' His heart was pounding in his chest, trying to burst free and run, run very far away. But he was no coward! He wasn't going anywhere!

Those eyes, heated and knowing, reverberated in his mind.

Okay, so he was going somewhere, but no because of Ranma! No, he just had better things to do. Like convince his weak knees to start moving so he could (run very far away) get going.

* * *

That night, he set up camp in a vacant lot somewhere in what he thought was Kyuuhu and had a meager dinner of ramen noodles and jerky. He ate in silence, finishing quickly, and cleaned his pot with water from his flask. It would air dry overnight.

After making sure that yes, all of the coals were out and there was no chance of a fire, Ryouga retired to his tent and went straight to bed. It was easier on him when he slept in his cloths; one never knew what could happen out in the wild!

Zipped up tight and warm in his sleeping bag, Ryouga drifted off soon after, letting out faintly snoring breathes in the real world, and waking to something quite unexpected in his dreams.

'_Ranma-chan in a silky red dress, low cut and showing her assets, hugging her curves and leaving nothing to the imagination, stalking toward him, slow and deliberate. The moonlight coming in at just the right angle from the balcony of some expensive hotel room to shine on the woman, lighting her from behind. White marble floors and white marble walls and thin, silky drapes swaying in the breezy night air brought in from the open glass doors; so expensive and glamorous and sparkling clean._

_A smile on her lovely face, lips dark and luscious, tauntingly kissable, leaning toward him. Ranma-chan saying in a husky voice, like a low purr (which didn't make sense, since his rival was so terrified of cats), "Ryouga-kun, what do you want?"_

_Him unable to reply, so stunned by her beauty, overwhelmed by her charm._

_A hand caressing his chest, feeling the hard muscle underneath jacket of his suit. (Why was he in Western clothes?) Red hair tickling his neck as the sensuous young woman leaned forward, molding her curves against solid frame, whispering breathily in his ear, "Do you want me, Ryouga-kun?" _

_Soft and yielding, the flesh beneath his hesitant hands, cradling her slim waist. Thin arms around his neck, a husky voice in his ear, questioning._

_Something wasn't right about the body against his. So very nice: a willing, wily woman playing at seduction was a dream come true to any healthy young man; but something, something just wasn't working, it wasn't--_

_The molded softness turned to hard planes of muscle, those thin arms becoming stronger, thicker, more defined, complete with boarder hands fisted in his hair. Ranma-_chan _turned into Ranma-_kun _and she, now he, pulled his head away from Ryouga's neck so they were face to face, the man now taller by an inch._

_Heated blue eyes (not just drawn from his imagination, but from his memory) boring into him, translating longing and desire into his be fumbled mind. Ranma, his rival, looming over him with a self satisfied expression, holding their bodies tightly together, an arm around his waist keeping him pressed close, a hand slowly sliding down his back and along his spine with increasing intensity, another between his legs._

_Ryouga, blushing a bright red from his ears down to his neck, glowering up at his hated rival._

"_Do you want me, Ryouga-kun?" Ranma purred again, face too close, blurring in his eyes. That promising hand finally reaching its mark, squeezing and kneading his ass cheek._'

Waking up hot and sticky but unsatisfied in the middle of the night, Ranma's looming face burned into his mind's eye, a gasping 'yes' on his lips.

It took a few minutes of stunned silence until Ryouga was able to pull himself together and angrily shout his thoughts, "Ranma! This is all your fault!" The lingering disappointment he pushed back, shoving it roughly away into the part of his mind that held doubts of his claims for vengeance. In a fit of flailing, he cursed the day Ranma had been born, tearing at the covers. In the end he only managed to tangle himself up in his sleeping bag even further, the more he wrestled to escape.

Two blocks away, Ranma sneezed in his sleep, and grumbling, turned back onto his side.

* * *

It was Ryouga's decision to go on a training mission, to somewhere as far from Nerima as possible, that had led him into the middle of the woods. He'd scouted the place out and noticed an abundance of small game, enough to feed him for several weeks, added to his supplies. The layout of the trees and sparse clearings was familiar somehow, but he shrugged that off, know that even with his sense of direction he could be anywhere twice.

Deserted but for the game, it was most clearly the perfect stop, and he didn't have to worry about seeing that bastard any time soon! Ignoring the faint twinge in his heart, Ryouga finished setting up his tent and stowed his bag inside, leaving the umbrella to practice with.

Kata came to him as naturally as breathing; he went through the movements fluidly, repeating them and drawing from the repetitiveness a sense of peace. The only time his thoughts did not plague him was during practice sessions. He held no anger in the forms, or any kind of sadness, becoming one with the movements and loosing all sense of individuality; there was his body and the art, nothing more, nothing less.

Widening his stance and diminishing it, shifting smoothly from foot to foot, raising and low arms and legs in perfect, practiced motion. To an observer it would be beautiful.

A twig snapped some hundred yards away, pulling his mind back from wherever it wandered and putting his instincts on alert. Someone was close, he could tell; someone with training, by their footsteps.

Ryouga shifted into a defensive position, irritation building slowly toward anger. Who dared interrupt his practice?!

"Hello? Is anyone there?" a female voice called out nervously. "Hello?"

_Akane-san?_

His irritation evaporated, confusion replacing it. What was she doing in the wilderness? Was she lost? Had something happened?

"Excuse me?" she called again, a maiden lost in the woods. Of course he would have to help her!

Stampeding in the direction of her voice, Ryouga broke hanging branches and expertly sidestepped roots to get to her.

He burst through the foliage right behind her. "Akane-san!" he cried, arms outstretched to embrace.

Akane-san turned around and smiled at him, a sparkling aura appearing before his eyes. "Oh, Ryouga-kun, there you are." She was heavenly in the light of the sun, shining through the leaves just to add to her radiance.

His love was truly an angel from above! He stopped in his tracks in order to thanks the Heavens for gifting the Earth with such a divine being, tears streaming down his cheeks.

Akane-san cleared her throat.

His eyes snapped toward her, all signs of his worship relapsed immediately by attentiveness.

"It's good to see you, Ryouga-kun," she said. "Have you been back very long?"

Akane-san had missed him! Oh happy day!

"N-no," he replied nervously, fiddling with his belt. Inwardly he cheered and cried happy tears at her words, overcome with by her mere presence. Ryouga couldn't think straight, half caught up in a happy fantasy where they lived happily ever after (without a Ranma to be seen).

"Oh," she said, hands behind her back, eyes toward the ground. "Do you want to come over for dinner?"

"Yes!" he burst out.

The high school freshman rewarded him with a happy smile. He made to follow her.

Then she said, "But shouldn't you put out your fire first?", pointing to the smoking rising above the trees.

He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Yeah! I'll go pack my camp! Be right back!"

Poor Ryouga took off in the opposite direction.

Akane called out, stopping him in his tracks, "Ah, let me show you the way!"

"Okay!" he said happily, grinning widely. She took his hand and he followed obediently, basking in her simple touch.

Only a small part of his mind wondered where he was, and why Akane-san was out here in the middle of nowhere with him. But Ryouga didn't question it, because the woman of his dreams was _talking_ to him, honest to goodness _touching_ him. That was enough to shut down any rational thinking brain cells he had.

* * *

Dinner turned out awkward.

"So, how are your travels, Ryouga-kun?" Nabiki-san asked with a smirk, head propped up on her hand by her elbow. He could swear she was snickering.

"F-fine, thank you," he stammered nervously. Akane-san passed him a bowl filled with rice, sitting to his left. Ryouga took it gratefully and began eating, glaring at his rival out of the corner of his eye. Ranma sat on his other side, calmly devouring his meal as if Ryouga wasn't there at all.

Ignoring him.

Ranma, that jerk, was just plain rude! With an irritated snort, Ryouga wondered, _'Why should I care? Well, I don't_ Just another black mark on Ranma's manners, not that the slob had any in the first place. Poor Akane-san.

A voice interupted his tense thoughts, and he glanced up. "Where have you been recently?" He would have thought it a polite query if it hadn't come from Nabiki's mouth.

"Nowhere, really," he muttered into his food, eyes downcast.

Not only was Ranma pretending he didn't exist, but Saotome-san kept _glaring_ at him. Next to him, Nabiki looked smug and kept a smirk on her face, not the usual 'I know what something you don't' but more of a 'I know something about you and I'm not telling', like whatever it was that concerned him amused her to no end. Tendou-san was lost in thought, staring blankly at the table with no expression, and Kasumi-san had disappeared into the kitchen.

This was getting even weirder. Everyone was acting strange! Was he missing something here?

For a few moments he stared awkwardly at the table, fidgeting with his chopsticks, careful not to break them. Then, Kasumi asked politely from over his shoulder, "Would you like some more tea, Ryouga-kun?" She was carrying a tray of steaming clay mugs.

"A-ah, yes, thank you," he said in a small voice. He trade his empty glass for the mug, blushing at the bright smile directed at him. The Tendous always had the best green tea; he took a sip and smiled back shyly.

Akane-san's oldest sister nodded her acknowledge of his thanks. She carried onto Ranma, and Ryouga's eyes resumed their former position: studying the color and shape of his food.

He felt eyes on him and glanced up side long. Now _Ranma _was staring openly at him, something unreadable darkening his eyes, and the heat of Saotome-san's glare doubled. Their combined stares killed any lingering confidence for conversation he'd had left.

Instead, Ryouga concentrated on his food and drink and tried to ignore the goings on around him.

It didn't work too well.

Akane-san, right next to him, leaned over to refill her plate before that jerk Ranma ate it all and her arm brushed his hand and he could _see down her shirt _and really it wasn't his fault he was looking down. He couldn't fight the blush, turning bright red from the tips of his ears to the back of his neck, or the thin line of blood trickling from his nostrils.

Kasumi leaned over from her stop at the table, frowning in concern. "Oh my, are you all right?" She tried to get a better look at his face.

Mirroring her expression, it was a miracle Akane wasn't shouting about perverts. "Ryouga-kun?"

He couldn't meet her eyes, face still doing an impression of a fire engine.

They were worried. "You don't look so good," Akane-san said, reaching out a hand to check his forehead.

Ranma took that moment to grab his wrist and before Ryouga could audibly protest, drag him out of the room, saying, "C'mon, lost boy. I'll get you somethin' for that."

"There are towels in the cabinet!" Kasumi called after them, rising from her kneeling position. More softly she continued, still frowning, "I do hope Ryouga-kun is alright…"

Saotome-san grumbled angrily, muttering something about proper behavior and 'that damn boy'. The Tendos ignored him, Akane glowering at Ranma's behavior and Nabiki snorting in amusement. She was looking forward to how all of this would play out.

* * *

**Word Count**: 2884


	2. Part II

An Intervening Strategy  
Part II  
By: Rosethorn Li

[Ryouga/Ranma/Akane]_ Ryouga is confused, Akane has a plan, and Ranma has a little help getting what he wants._

_Post Chapters 243 (Carpe Deum) and 244 (Quit Carping!)_

_SpringKink Prompt:__ Ranma 1/2, Ryouga/Ranma(/Akane): Waking up gay(/bi)--"It's the curse! It must be part of the curse!"_

_

* * *

  
_

Ranma dragged him to the bathroom at a rushed pace, unresponsive to Ryouga's complaints and protests. His grip was tight; the lost boy couldn't tug loose, but it wasn't to bruise Ryouga's tough skin.

"_Let __go!_" Ryouga growled, trying to wrench his hand away. Ranma ignored him. Again. i_What is with him?!_/i

Warningly, nearing the edge of his temper, he ground out, "Ranma!"

Still no response.

With a final rough tug, Ryouga prepared to punch with his other hand, but was struck by surprise when, unprepared, he was shoved into the bathroom, the door slamming shut behind them. His back hit the wall and he fell forward, only just managing to catch himself on his knees. (There was a dent in the wall and a bruise forming where his shoulder had hit, but neither of them noticed.)

No longer gripping flesh and bone, Ranma's hands instead clenched into fists. His face was as expressionless as Ryouga had ever seen. It was frightening: Ranma always showed his emotions, he _couldn't_ hide them. Anger won out over the sudden jolt of fear, and Ryouga glared for all he was worth.

Ranma looked down, jaw tight and teeth gritting together, back at him. He looked ready to say something, and Ryouga expected threats or shouting or anything but what it was.

A whimper.

"Wah--" His breath was knocked away by a body flying at him, not in violence, to tackle or bring him to his knees, but an embrace. Lips found his ear and Ranma was whispering something Ryouga couldn't hear; all the blood was rushing down.

Surprise colored his vision because, he noted absently, it looked like Ranma had a problem too.

"W-wait, Ranma---!" Again he was ignored, but it was okay, really, because the pig tailed martial artist's hands weren't idle and, and--

Touched i_there_/i, backed against a wall with nothing but _feeling_…

_Too intense._

His arms, he told them to shove, to push that other body away, but they won't listen; they clung instead, holding tightly and never wanting to let go. Gasping and whimpering and his mouth was betraying his pleasure and wasn't it supposed to be disgusting, to have a tongue in your ear? But it felt good.

_'__This is Ranma_,' he kept telling him self. His self wasn't listening, drawing in the pleasure of touch. _'This is my rival_.' Rival equals competition.

That part, well, his body understood. Nipping lips sucked away his breath, curious hands determined to touch skin. Warmth and hunger and embarrassment(/shame) all wrapped into one in his chest, pushed slowly away by sensation.

So he stopped thinking and _felt_ instead, and that led to perhaps the best outcome of all.

* * *

They ended up tangled in bed, sweaty and half dressed, groping and clawing and trying to one up each other like the rivals they were. And somehow, he didn't know when, Akane was there too.

Akane's curves against his back, soft and yielding, finding places to caress and mouth that drew pleasure straight to his core and soft sounds from his lips. Ranma's strong chest against his front, hard and real, so real, hands roughly embracing parts of his body that no one else had ever touched, reaching muscular arms above and around him to stroke the woman behind. Too many points on his body where there was touch, pleasure wracking through him and he couldn't think with all this input!

But who wanted to think when Ranma was roughly turning his head to the side and Akane was kissing him, devouring his mouth in hungry gulps, teeth nipping his lips, asking, no demanding more. Ryouga was too shocked to respond at first, trying to get over the woman he so idolized roughly eating at his mouth, but then instinct overcame the uselessness of thought and he was grabbing her face and giving as good as he got.

Akane let out a startled noise, a snort of pain, as Ryouga's fangs nicked her lips and their teeth clash, as he pulled her hair too hard, strands taunt and stretching unbearably between his fingers. At the pained sound, Ryouga pulled back, an apology on his lips, ready to ask what was wrong, but in an instant he found himself spun away from Akane and into Ranma's arms instead. Then Ranma was pinning his wrists behind his back and cupping the nape of his neck with the other hand, smashing their mouths together for a heated kiss.

It was not like Akane's sort of hunger, her whose lips were soft and moist, giving and coxing, wanting something mutual and willing to give to get. Ranma was rough and demanding, overwhelming him with every sensation and wanting to win, as if this lip lock were another battle to be fought.

Ryouga leaned in close, measuring that heartbeat with his teeth, nipping lightly, barely touching, but causing the other boy to shudder and moan. "Shush," Ryouga growled. He saw Akane smirk, a bit too self satisfied for his tastes. He grabbed her wrist and with a quick tug had her against his other side, an arm around her waist and her willing mouth against his.

"What?" he asked her when they were done, leaving her breathless and flushed. She moaned his name in answer, and his expression turned feral. "You like that, baby?" His voice was rough with something, and Akane widened her eyes at the sound, pupils dominating her brown eyes. "You want more?"

Akane nodded and Ranma whimpered, an unmanly sound. Ryouga looked back at him, showing off his fangs, and knew that he had won. They dissolved into a pile of flesh and noise, and could not have pulled themselves from each other for the world.

* * *

No experience is ever forgotten. Once it had registered through our senses, it becomes part of our memories, a part of us.

Sometimes our minds conspire against us: we have thoughts that, without even realizing it, influence our actions. To note something in passing is not always an insignificant matter that 'doesn't mean anything'.

At times our underlying thoughts can be so great, that when they become known to us, it is too late to stop them. Perhaps your actions have already spoken for you, or those thought patterns have become ingrained.

Other times, your thinking, and your situation, can have a little help.

* * *

Kasumi put the kettle on the stove, burner turned to high. The family was so tense, they needed to relax a little bit. After dinner tea should do the trick.

"Thank you for your help, Nabiki-chan." She smiled at her sister, who was over by the sink drying the plates from dinner.

"No problem, sis." Nabiki shrugged. "You looked like you could use the help."

Upstairs a load crash could be heard, followed by strange noises. In the family room, their father let out another wail. He'd be crying since Akane followed the boys upstairs. Nothing they could do to comfort him.

Kasumi paused, tea cup in hand and glanced up at the ceiling. "What in the world…?" The tray on the counter in front of her was half stacked with their European tea set, plates and spoons and cups. Her brows furrowed in concern.

Nabiki came up beside her and took the cup, setting on the tray, smug to her elder's confusion. "Don't worry, sis. They're fine. Just bonding a little."

"Oh my, I hope they don't strain themselves…" The only bonding between martial artists that could make such noise was, of course, some type of training.

Patting her sister's shoulder, Nabiki told her not to worry, saying, "I'm sure they're prepared. Akane-chan knows what she's doing." She was still smirking.

Kasumi answered her words with a smile. "Yes, of course." The kettle whistled, distracting her from saying anything else.

Nabiki left the kitchen and paused in the hallway, looking up the stairs to the second level. Ranma was so going to owe her, and she'd be sure to collect. Not now, though, since he was so _busy_.

Satisfied, the girl went to calm down her father.

In the kitchen, Kasumi hummed herself a little tune, letting the leaves seep before pouring the tea. Her little sister really was very sweet, to help Ranma-kun and Akane-chan and Ryouga-kun like this. She knew that it would be hard for them, of course, but martial artists, as they were, were nothing if not resilient.

The tea was perfect when she poured it, a nice dark steaming green. With a smile in place, and the half empty kettle beside the tea cups, she called out, "Father, tea!" Perhaps this would cheer him up.

Through this the schools would be joined; no one had ever said that it had to be traditional.

* * *

It wasn't the sun or the chill that woke Ryouga; it was the voices.

"Ranma-kun, what were you thinking?!" Quiet and feminine, but with a harsh tone, like she wanted to shout but couldn't.

_Akane-san?_

A gruff voice growled back, "What're you talkin' about, Akane? It was your idea!"

"Not like this!" She sounded embarrassed. Was she blushing? He could remember what she looked like, face flushed, sweaty and glowing in the dim light, heaving little breathy sounds and mouthing something…

"Not like what, you uncute tomboy?" Ranma might have been teasing, but without a second thought (and to get _those_ thoughts out of his head) Ryouga automatically responded by throwing a pillow and shouting, "Don't talk to Akane-san like that!"

Ranma was not prepared for the projectile, but years of training let him dodge, sputtering indignantly. Near cracking her neck, Akane-san looked over at him, eyes wide, and yes, she was blushing, and was shock and embarrassed too. Quickly she averted her eyes, turning a darker shade of red, her hands much more interesting than the two men on either side of her.

Ryouga turned to Ranma, angry and upset. "What did you do?!" His voice was raspy, and not nearly as demanding as he wanted it to be. Must have been the screaming. From last night. That set off a blush of his own.

He shook his head roughly, dispelling the dirty thoughts. No! Ranma must have done something. Ranma had done something unforgivable to Akane-san!

"Woah, woah, wait a second, man! Let me explain!" The pig tailed boy held his hands up defensively, ready to defend himself from the glowering martial artist, horrified at his dark, angry aura. "This wasn't how it was supposed to be!"

Ryouga somehow went from laying propped up on his elbow to standing in the time it took Ranma to blink, looming over the defensive boy. Akane-san was just below him, seated at his feet, and he had to lean over her to glare at Ranma. He was all too aware of her proximity (oh so close, and those noises still echoing in his mind), and channeled half jealous rage on her behalf, unquestioning in his right to defend her virtue.

Not that she would have it if she knew his thoughts. Indeed, she was already taking his side.

"How it was supposed to be?" Akane-san asked, anger back and plain as the red aura billowing around her. She joined Ryouga in towering over the cowering Ranma, hands on her hips. "You said you'd explain, so explain! How was it supposed to be, huh?"

Ranma was backed into a corner; he shouted out the first thing that came to mind. "The book said-" His own hands covered his mouth before the sentence could complete itself. Feared added to his eyes as they darted back and forth, looking for a means of escape. From both Ryouga and Akane, there were none: any escape route he chose to take, one of them would grab him.

"What book?" Akane-san ground out, the same time as Ryouga.

Shaking his head frantically, Ranma refused to answer.

"Where is it?" Ryouga growled. Ranma's eyes, wide and frantic, gave him a sense of power. The power he'd been lacking since the other boy had stolen his bread and run away from their fight. Last night he'd _won_ and now Ranma was _his_.

_What the hell?_

Like before, Ryouga pushed it away. Another place, another time. His aura evolved into something darker, not sinister, but something beyond anger. "Ranma," he stated plainly, voice heavy, "tell me where it is."

Ranma's eyes were darkening in turn, though he kept shaking his head as if he couldn't stop.

Akane-san added to the effect, moving in closer, eyes narrowed and staring hard down at her fiancé. "What book, Ranma?" She was nice about it, but even trying she couldn't hide her irritation.

Biting his lip, he shrank back as far as he could away from them without it looking like he was retreating because his tattered pride wouldn't let him, blushing and glancing around the room, anywhere but them. Or his bed, which he was on the edge of. His eyes kept flicking back to the pillows, though…

Ryouga noticed, and followed his eyes; Akane, too.

_One moment, one chance._ Quick as anything, Ranma burst past them, breaking their lax blockade with pure force and dashing towards the door. Freedom! He could go to the Cat Café or Ucchan's and not have to explain himself!

Until Ryouga caught the end of his ponytail.

They tumbled down together, Ryouga falling hard on his shoulder, Ranma ending up tangled in the scattered blankets, face buried in the pillow and limbs at every angle. From under the pillow tumbled a book; it skidded across the floor, stopped by Akane's feet, flipping open in the process.

A thick volume, paperback, worn at the edges and pages marked by multicolor sticky marks they sometimes used in class. Loose notebook paper, once tucked carefully between the pages, scattered when the book flew open, notes in Ranma's untidy hand scrawled across the pages.

'Ranma and Ryouga Together Forever' written time and time again, surrounded by hearts. 'Hibiki Ranma' over a poorly drawn picture of Ryouga and Ranma-chan holding hands, or staring dreamily into each other's eyes.

Panicked, Ranma scrambled for the book. The sheets around his legs kept him in place, and he flailed, trying to pry loose. He managed to get to his knees before he tripped and fell again.

Ryouga maneuvered to the other side of the room without making a sound, wild eyed and pressed up against the wall, as far away from Ranma as he could get. His heart was beating too quickly, and he took it as shock, even though his eyes were still so dark with something and his stomach was doing flips that had nothing to do with lack of food.

They all stared at each other, speechless, in shock.

"Breakfast, everyone!" the cheerful voice of Kasumi-san cut through the silence. It broke the tension, and everyone's eyes immediately broke from each other's, looking anywhere but the book.

Akane raised her voice and shouted down, falsely cheerful, "Just a second, onee-san!"

Ranma was bright red and curled up into himself, pillow over his head. Maybe if they couldn't see him, they'd forget he existed.

"It must be the curse!" Ryouga exclaimed. "It has to be part of the curse." That would explain everything! He was grasping at straws, desperate to explain his rival's inadvertent profession of love. (Like what had happened last night wasn't enough, and of course he wasn't thinking about it, not at all.)

Akane was silent, frowning in concern at her fiancé's shaking form. "Ranma-kun…" she whispered. "I'm sorry…"

"Akane-san?" Ryouga asked, concerned, near hysteria forgotten. He looked at her in askance; however, she only had eyes for the shuddering and terrified young man.

Her eyes pleaded with concern and heartfelt apologizes, baffling Ryouga, and even though Ranma couldn't see it, he felt her sympathy and that gave him strength.

Ranma mumbled something against the pillow, too muffled to hear.

Blinking, Akane asked, "What?"

Ranma lifted the pillow enough to say, "Not the curse."

"What is it, then?" Ryouga wanted to know, even though a part of him was still screaming to flee.

"Your fault," Ranma said sulkily, peeking out from underneath his cover and glaring. Anger over comes embarrassment when you could blame someone else. "You and that stupid fishin' rod."

"But the carp came off!" he protested fervently, flailing his arms in a kind of flustered dance. His heart was still beating awfully hard, and it must be with anger, because that bastard, Ranma, was blaming him for something that was entirely not his fault! "I saw it! You don't, it can't affect you anymore!"

"Yeah, it did," Ranma said dryly, head still buried under a pillow. "Feeling didn't go away."

That struck Ryouga, unbalanced him; anger and anything else he felt were swept away by pure, unbridled shock. "Huh?"

"Feeling didn't go away," the pig tailed boy repeated real slow, eyes hot and glaring and _yes indeed_ they were filled with something much, much worse.

Ryouga hung onto the wall for dear life, fingers digging trenches into the wood. His knees threatened to give out and he squashed a welling feeling of something like hope, such an unknown, contrary emotion to his very nature that he mistook it as fear and if there is one thing he would not be, it was to be afraid!

No anger, only shock; he couldn't even muster up enough sorrow to turn into something useful.

Fruitlessly, he searched the room by sight. Akane wouldn't meet his eyes, even when he searched her face pleadingly, expression saying that she'd known. Nothing make sense anymore!

"W-what?!"

Ranma was fed up. Fed up with pretending and being subtle and whatever else. "You made me frickin' love you, pig boy!" he roared. "What was I supposed to do?"

"What…?" Ryouga could only repeat himself. He was pretty sure his brain was broken.

"It was my idea," Akane-san inferred. "That he…try something."

That earned her a glower. "Didn't tell me 'til last night," Ranma mumbled sulkily. "What happened, anyway?"

"Last night?" she asked, not wanting to talk about it but knowing it was important.

"Yeah, last night. Why'd we, you know…" He looked away, blushing. (Ryouga liked that look on him very, very much. Yeah, his brain was definitely broken and stuck in some weird place that appreciated Ranma's facial expressions as much as he usually did Akane-san's mere existence.) "…jump each other 'n all that?"

"I don't know." Akane shook her head, looking away. "Onee-chan sent me up to check on you after you guys took forever in the bathroom…"

Which set off another round of blushing for Ryouga, who was now remembering what they'd _done_ in there.

"Can we, you know, talk about this stuff later? I'm kinda getting' hungry here." The smells of food were wafting up from downstairs and through the thin paper of the sliding door, filling the room with the inviting scents of a traditional Japanese breakfast.

Akane glared, none too pleased with the interruption. "Ranma, you're always thinking with your stomach!"

"Can't help it, I'm hungry!" Ranma bickered back, falling into a familiar routine. Something normal so sought out it was okay to fight as long as he didn't end up out the roof like usual.

The implications to his statement prevented a rebuke from Akane, she was too busy blushing and looking away. "I'll…meet you downstairs!" she said instead, and fled the scene.

Ryouga's brain was still broken, his fingers digging past the plaster and into the wall. Akane-san had left him with Ranma!

Who was looking directly at him and asking something about food and would he take all day?

Fixated on the blue of those eyes, and spill of untidy hair across tanned skin, the lost boy followed Ranma, transfixed.

Ranma led the boy out of the room, careful to go slow on the stair 'cause pig boy was still so out of it, and noticed that they weren't the only two in the hall.

Nabiki smirked at him and raised an eyebrow. A sheen of sweat broke out on the back of his neck, and Ranma couldn't meet her eyes.

Instead, he grabbed Ryouga's arm. "C'mon, lost boy, let's get you some food."

It was warm and it was nice and it made him _happy, _and darn it, it was worth owing that collection shark.

_Maybe._

Right now there was Kasumi's cooking, Ryouga to one side (daze and his food kept missing his mouth so Ranma took it upon himself to help) and Akane to the other, and a whole heap of their company in the future. Nice way to start the day.

"What's that smile for?" Akane snapped, blushing a darker than red, bordering on purple.

Ranma grinned and said, "Nothin'."

* * *

**End**


End file.
